Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 42 of 155

38 GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT 05.14
Party like a
green star
Suppose you threw a party and 500,000
people showed up?
That's what happens every winter when
Jeff Plotts, the GCSAA Class A director of golf
course operations at TPC Scottsdale (Ariz.)
gets ready for the PGA Tour's Waste Man
-
agement Phoenix Open (WMPO). It is of-
fcially the best-attended golf tournament in
the world; in fact, says Plotts, the only outdoor
spectator event that is larger is the Olympics.
That makes the achievement in both 2013
and 2014 of diverting 100 percent of all waste
generated during the event at TPC Scotts
-
dale to recycling, composting or energy even
more outstanding. For its efforts, the WMPO
has won the Top Project Award from the envi
-
ronmental and energy management news jour-
nal Environmental Leader.
"This project demonstrates what can be
achieved when you intentionally apply design
to achieve sustainability goals," the journal's
project awards judge states. "The entire event,
from conceptualization to execution on a
large scale, was a big success."
According to Houston-based environ
-
mental services provider Waste Management,
the tournament's title sponsor since 2010, and
Thunderbirds Charities, which organizes the
event to beneft needy children and families
in the Phoenix area, the 100 percent diversion
rate was attained by sending 86 percent of ma
-
terials to composting/recycling facilities and 14
percent of materials converted to waste-to-en
-
ergy. Energy management goals for the tourna-
ment were met via a commitment to renewable
energy (wind, solar, biomass), use of innovative
tactics (gray water from concession kitchens
reused in portable toilets to save water), solar
arrays (powered the hospitality tent on No. 18)
and transportation vehicles (63 percent of vehi
-
cles operated on alternative fuels).
Plotts, who has been a GCSAA member
for 20 years, says that planning for the 2015
edition of the tournament began while 2014
WMPO champ Kevin Stadler was teeing
off for the fnal round. The 36-hole facili
-
ty's 65 full-time staff members participate in
"think tanks" that try to anticipate every con
-
ceivable need — from the type of recyclable
scrim used to wrap the temporary structures
to reusable beer mugs. And when the last golf
fan leaves, the task of dismantling "The Green
-
est Show on Grass" with a goal of diverting 100
percent of the waste is just as daunting.
"Everything you can think of has to
be sorted," Plotts says. "Until you do this, you
have no idea what a feat it is."
Waste Management reports that, in addi
-
tion to demonstrating environmental steward-
ship, the WMPO's total economic impact in
2013 was $231.7 million, including over $6
million in 2013 charitable donations. That was
the year the event set a PGA Tour single-day
Bunny Smith
bsmith@gcsaa.org
twitter: @GCM_Magazine
attendance record with 179,022 fans on Satur-
day, Feb. 2. This year, the WMPO set a tourna-
ment week attendance record of 563,008 fans,
whose cheers and jeers fll the temporary am
-
phitheater that is constructed every year on the
Stadium Course's 16th hole.
"It's just that big," says Plotts. "For at
least six months out of the year, we deal with
this event. It's pretty remarkable what we're
capable of accomplishing — all for something
that lasts for just one week."
Bunny Smith is GCM 's senior managing editor.
The Waste Management logo on No. 18 at TPC Scottsdale is composed of 140,000 used golf balls.
Photo courtesy of WMPO
ÒItÕs pretty
remarkable what
weÕre capable of
accomplishing Ñ
all for something
that lasts for just
one week.Ó
Ñ Jeff Plotts
Presented in Partnership
with Aquatrols
(environment)
038-039_May14_Envirn.indd 38 4/17/14 9:09 AM